Evolution quotes: The context of arguments 2 May 2013 105. All testing, all confirmation and disconfirmation of a hypothesis takes place already within a system. And this system is not a more or less arbitrary and doubtful point of departure for all our arguments: no, it belongs to the essence of what we call an argument. The system is not so much the point of departure, as the element in which arguments have their life. [Ludwig Wittgenstein, On Certainty] This is Ludwig’s way of discussing the logical context of arguments. Philosophy
Philosophy My species book receives a Choice award 11 Feb 202011 Feb 2020 I am delighted to tell you that my book Species: The Evolution of the Idea has received a 2019 Choice Reviews Outstanding Academic Title Award! The book met the meticulous Choice criteria from originality, uniqueness, and importance in building undergraduate library collections, to overall excellence in presentation and value to… Read More
Biology What came before Darwin 2 Oct 2009 If ever you wondered what the “default” view was before the modern era began with the late 18th century naturalists, culminating in Darwin, regarding the natural world, this passage, from a philosopher with the odiferous name William Smellie, gives a complete summary. Read More
Philosophy My Absent Career 8: A second chance 22 Dec 20221 Jan 2023 So, at this point I am now 50 or so, doing my postdoc at UQ with Paul Griffiths, and living with my family just pre-separation (the divorce came a few years later). Two things happened. The first is that I started to gain confidence, Now, this may shock those who… Read More
So that is what confabulation is about. I’ll work on it for a month or two. In the meantime I will concentrate on the point of departure – of a portrait Charles Darwin which has yet to wing its way from this Sceptred Isle in your direction.
“Ludwig” has always to me seemed incapable of discussing one topic at a time. Here he drags in approximately one level of metatopic, which for him is a miracle of simplification.